Finale - Part 1 - 5/15/13

Hello all. Well this season of American Idol is almost over. Tonight's episode shows us a very young Kree Harrison being interviewed by Rosie O'Donnell and then a clip of how Candice Glover has tried out for this show three times. We see wording saying "It started with a dream and that dream brought them to this stage". "Who will win it all" is then asked. I know who I think should win but I will get into that later in this post.

Now we welcome Ryan Seacrest who welcomes the judges. They are now at the Nokia Theatre with 7000 strong in the audience. The crowd seems so massive to my eyes. Tonight we are told we have "country vs soul" with the two remaining women. This is a first since way back in season 3 did we have two females competitors in the finale. Each girl will sing three songs in this fast-paced hour. They are a pick from Simon Fuller (creator of this show), their coronation song and each girl's favorite song of the season. Now for the performances:

Kree Harrison won the toss backstage and opts to sing first. Her Simon Fuller pick is "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. I found this to sound nice and pretty and her high note was pretty good. But all in all I was bored by this sleepy number. Kree is very good at ballads but no real excitement when she performs in my book. My grade: B+

Kree's coronation song is called "All Cried Out". This sounded like your typical country song of heartbreak to my ears. I am sure the country folks will like it even though during this performance Kree seem to struggle with some of the notes. It was just okay and I honestly could not see myself buying this song. My grade: B

Another sleepy song as Kree takes on the Patty Griffin number "Up To The Mountain". In the beginning this sounded so dreary but got a lot better in the chorus and her high note was very good. I sure wish Kree had shown us some excitement during her three numbers but overall I found all three of her performances just subpar. My grade: B

Candice Glover's pick from Simon Fuller is another song I am not wild about. It is Adele's "Chasing Pavements". For heaven sake Simon should have picked songs that showcased our two girls. Candice did sing this well but again I was kind of bored overall. My grade: B+

For Candice's coronation song it is called "I Am Beautiful". I understood the meaning behind this song but in reality I think the writers kind of let both women down with these songs. This might be a seller on the contemporary charts but frankly I hope to hear better songs from Candice in the future. However, Candice did well with this number which had the judges giving her a standing ovation. My grade: B+

Finally we get a true fire performance as Candice takes on the song "I, Who Have Nothing" which was a big hit for Tom Jones. The beginning with the smoky stage and Candice singing acoustic was haunting and beautiful. As she gets more into the song the power of her voice was sending chills up and down my spine. This was spectacular in my opinion and obviously so did the judges as well as another standing ovation and amazing clapping for some time from the audience. The judges totally loved this performance with some wonderful comments from each of them. My grade: A+

The judges did not comment after each performance but did give some comments after each round. Randy Jackson felt both of the first songs were bad choices and kind of sleepy. Mariah Carey was proud of both of them but in the end they felt the first round went to Candice.

On the second round Nicki Minaj is saying the round went to Candice as she truly loved her coronation song. Keith Urban felt that each song was tailor-made for each girl but of course his vote went to Kree. No mention of who won the final round but judging by the standing ovation and the audience I would say Candice won by a landslide.

Carly Rae Jepson performed her single which was voted on by the voting on the American Idol site. The song is called "Take A Picture". This girl is adorable and the song was okay but I honestly did not care for it as much as I liked her other hit "Call Me Maybe".

I know this race will be close for who should win the title. No doubt the country folks will be voting for Kree with others of course placing their votes for Candice. I personally voted my fingers off for Candice as all season she has been the most consistent in her performances. I so love the power of her voice. Regardless both will no doubt do well in their chosen genres and I applaud both for making it to the finale.

No mention on who will be performing on the Thursday results show with the exception that Adam Lambert will be there singing with Angie Miller. Can't wait to see him for sure. I so wish he was dueting with Candice. I will be back with the final re-cap of this season tomorrow. Until next time, take care all.